Despite all the criticism for Justin Bieber’s guestbook entry after a visit to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, representatives of the museum dedicated to the teenage Holocaust victim — whose diary was found in the house a couple years after her death in 1945 — have come forward to reaffirm their appreciation for his visit.

Moreover, they believe that the outcome of all the attention will ultimately be positive.

“He’s a 19-year-old boy taking the effort to come and see the museum,” spokesperson Annemarie Bekker told The New York Times, “and we’d like to point that out, and I think it’s quite innocent what he put down.”

“The Anne Frank House was pleased to welcome Justin Bieber to the Anne Frank House last Friday. We think it is very positive that he took the time and effort to visit our museum. He was very interested in the story of Anne Frank and stayed for over an hour. We hope that his visit will inspire his fans to learn more about her life and hopefully read the diary.”

By contrast, what the museum posted over the weekend sparked a huge backlash.

“Truly inspiring to be able to come here,” the Facebook page reported that Bieber wrote in the guestbook. “Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber.”

Facebook

After several hours, Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun appeared to be responding to the reaction in an indirect way:

Unfortunately it can be used for good or bad. Saw this drawing and found the perspective interesting.… http://t.co/zz7yz0PPdl